Running board



Patented May 31, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUDD BRONSON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE OHIO RUBBER COMPANY, O

CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO RUNNING Beam;

Application led February 17, 1,930. Serial'No. 428,902.`

This invention relates generally tocomposite articles, and more particularly to a rubber covered vehicle running board.

An object of this invention isto provide an improved form of running board.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rubber covered running board having portions of the rubber covering carrieddown upon the depending flanges a ong the sides and ends of the metallic base. v

The invention may be further briefly sum'- marized asconsisting in certain novelv combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and particularly setout in the appended claims. 'v

n the accompanying sheet of drawing,

1 board constructed according to my invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on line 22 .of Fig: 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing my running board assembled in place; I

Fig. 5 is a partial transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 4.

In the drawing, to which I shall nowrefer in detail I have shown a rubber covered running board constructed according to my invention. This running board comprises a metallic base 10 and a covering of rubber 11 molded and vulcanized thereto. The metallio base is constructed with a flat, substan.

tially horizontally extending top or body portion 12, to the upper surface of which the rubber covering is attached by a vulcanizing operation. At the inner edge of this body portion, that is to say at the edge which 1s toward the vehicle body, a portion of the metallic base is turned abruptly downwardly to form the longitudinaly extending depending flange 13. Along the opposite or outer edge of the base some of the metal is curved downwardly to provide the rounded, depending longitudine. ly extending flange 14. A t

the ends of the metallic base, portions of the 1 is a top plan view of a runningy nietal are turned abruptly downwardly to provide a depending flange 15 at the forward end and a depending flange l16 at the rear end of the running board. These depending flanges materiali strengthen the running board, and in addition the flanges at the ends and inner edge provide a convenient means for connectin therunning boardto certain portions of t e body of thevehiele. The rounded flange at the outer edge `also gives the running board an attractive appearance.

The rubber covering or tread 11 is firmly and uniformly attached to the metal by being molded and vulcanized to the upper surface of the base and is carried over the edges thereof and downwardly upon the depending flanges which extend along the sides land ends of thebase. If desired, the portion of the rubber covering which is attached to the body portion of the base may be provided with rubber rivets 17 extending through openings flanges, and in addition, rubber rivets 18 may extend through openin s in the flanges to assist in holding the ru ber covering to the metal. The rubber rivets 18, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, are of a form which will permit the article to be withdrawn from the mold without shearing off the heads of the rivets.

When the running board is assembledy in glace, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the depending ange 13, along the inner edge of the board, cooperates with a depending portion of the splash pan 19 which covers the frame member 20 of the vehicle body. The depending flange 13 and the portion of the splash pan 19 are secured together by suitable clamping bolts with the rubber covering of the flange therebetween. In a similar manner, the de pending flanges 15 and 16 at the front and rear ends respectively, of the running board are clamped to portions of the front and rear fenders 21 and 22 with thev downwardly extending portions of the rubber coverin between the flanges and the portions o the fenders.

clamping A ly disposed flange, and

` It will now be readily seen that by extending the rubber covering down upon the depending flanges along the edges of the board, the rubber provides an anti-squeak and waterproof packing means between the depending flanges of the board and the body portions of the vehicle with which they cooperate. In addition to providing a packing means between cooperating portions of the running board and the vehicle body, these portions of rubber provide a coverin for the depending flange portions of the oard, makmg it unnecessary to apply paint or other anticorrosive substance to these parts of the board. Furthermore, by extendin and portions of the rubber covering between the depending flanges of the board and portions of the vehicle body, the rubber covering is secured in such a manner that the edge t portions thereof cannot tear loose from the metallic base.

While I have shown and described the device of my invention in a detailed manner, it should be understood, however, that I do not intend to limit myself to the precise details of construction shown and described, but regard my invention as including such changes and modifications as do not involve' a departure from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: y

l. The combination with a vehicle having an attaching portion, of a running board comprising a metallic base having an angularly disposed flange for cooperation with said attaching portion, rubber covering attached to said metallic base with a portion thereof extended over and attachedto said angularmeans associated with said attaching portion and said angularly disposed flange for clamping the extended portion of the rubber covering therebetween.

2. The combination with a vehicle having a longitudinally extending splash pan, of a running board comprising a metallic base having an angularly disposed flange alon one edge thereof for cooperation with sai` splash pan, and a rubber tread substantially uniformly attached to said metallic base with a portion thereof extended between said flange and said splash pan.

3. The combination with a vehicle having a fender thereon, of a running board comprising a metallic base having an angularly disposed flange for cooperation with an end of said fender, and a rubber tread substantially uniformly attached to said metallic base with a portion thereof extended between said end and said angularly disposed flange.

4. The combination with a vehicle having a longitudinally extending splash pan, of a running board comprising a metallic base having an angularly disposed flange along one edge thereof for cooperation with said splash pan, rubber covering vulcanized to said metallic base and one edge thereof extended between said flange and said splash pan, and means associated With said flange and splash pan for clamping the edge of the rubber covering therebetween.

5. The combination with a vehicle having a depending splash pan and a fender adjacent thereto, of a running board comprising a metallic base having angularly disposed flanges for cooperation respectively with said splash pan and said fender, rubber covering vulcanized to said metallic base with porl'ions thereof extended over and vulcanized lo said angularly disposed flanges, and means for clamping the extended portions of said covering etween said flanges and the portions of the vehicle body with which they cooperate.

6. The combination with a vehicle having fenders thereon, of a running board comprising a metallic base having angularly disposed end flanges for cooperation with the ends of said fenders, and a rubber tread substantially uniformly attached to said metallic base with portions thereof extended between said angularly disposed end flanges and the ends of said fenders.

7. The combination with a vehicle having fenders each provided with a flange portion, of a running board comprising a metallic base having angularly disposed end flanges for cooperation with the flange portions of said fenders, and rubber covering vulcanized to said metallic base with portions thereof .extended between said angularly disposed end flanges and the flange portions of said fendors.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

' BUDD BRONSON. 

